“All people, especially my female comrades, should have better access to information and education so that they can be properly informed to make their own decisions about their lives, especially by planning their family properly so that we can reduce the horrible rates of maternal and infant mortality in Timor-Leste” - Olga, Marie Stopes International Midwife
In Timor Leste, Marie Stopes works with many geographically isolated, impoverished communities to improve their sexual and reproductive health and assist in the reduction of poverty. Working in partnership with the Ministry of Health, Marie Stopes International has significantly increased access to family planning and sexual and reproductive healthcare across Timor Leste.
There is a huge unmet need for family planning and safe motherhood services in Timor Leste, with the average woman giving birth to almost six children in her lifetime. Marie Stopes International works to provide high quality, accessible and affordable information and services so that men, women and young people can make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health, especially around the number and spacing of their children.
Olga says that while sometimes the reaction from communities is one of uncertainty, most are very happy to welcome the Marie Stopes International team as they can provide clear information on sexual and reproductive health to help community members have greater control over their lives and families.
Current Projects
- The 'Choice' outreach project provides safe motherhood, family planning and other sexual health services by foot, motorbike, car, boat or any other means of transport in Timor Leste’s rural and isolated communities
- A comprehensive sexual and reproductive health clinic in Dili provides essential counselling and services about reproductive health, family planning and sexually transmitted infections
- An adolescent reproductive health pilot project delivers age-appropriate information to young people and includes the development of a sexual and reproductive health care telephone line
Key Achievements
- In 2010 the program achieved its greatest results to date; Marie Stopes served over 33,000 clients, an increase of 155% on the previous year. Almost 53,000 people attended sexual and reproductive health information sessions provided by our outreach teams.
- Marie Stopes has made a major contribution to increasing the Contraceptive Prevalence Rate and decreasing the Total Fertility Rate in Timor Leste. For example, the proportion of women aged 15-49 years who currently use family planning and contraceptives has increased from 10% in 2003 to 22% in 2010.
- In 2011, Marie Stopes will expand its services into two more of Timor Leste’s districts. This means Marie Stopes will serve communities in eight of the country’s 13 districts.
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Her Story
Early in 2011, Maria da Costa* attended a government community health outreach program near her home in rural Timor Leste. Maria is 40 years old, and with her husband Jose, has already had nine pregnancies. During all of her pregnancies Maria felt very sick and often had to stay in bed. Maria’s first pregnancy ended in miscarriage and two of her children have died, so she has six living children.
At the health outreach program, Maria and Jose heard about family planning and contraception from the Marie Stopes International team. Jose told one of the team members that they did not want to have any more children, as they want to be able to look after their six children and support them to continue their education. Jose said, “We are farmers and we do not want our children to be farmers too [without an education]. We want our children to continue their schooling and become good people in the future.”
Maria decided that she wanted to use a contraceptive method. She sat with Jose to talk about the methods she had learnt from the outreach program and they decided Maria would have a tubal ligation. Maria’s tubal ligation was done by our Marie Stopes international team at a hospital near her home. After the operation, the Marie Stopes International team went to Maria’s home to check on her and change her dressing.
*not his/her real name
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